FOR the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not -- and very surely do I not dream. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul. My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events. In their consequences, these events have terrified -- have tortured -- have destroyed me. Yet I will not attempt to expound them. To me, they have presented little but Horror -- to many they will seem less terrible than barroques. Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the common-place -- some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects.

From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. With these I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them. This peculiarity of character grew with my growth, and, in my manhood, I derived from it one of my principal sources of pleasure. To those who have cherished an affection for a faithful and sagacious dog, I need hardly be at the trouble of explaining the nature or the intensity of the gratification thus derivable. There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.

I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a disposition not uncongenial with my own. Observing my partiality for domestic pets, she lost no opportunity of procuring those of the most agreeable kind. We had birds, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a cat. This latter was a remarkably large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing degree. In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise. Not that she was ever serious upon this point -- and I mention the matter at all for no better reason than that it happens, just now, to be remembered.

Pluto -- this was the cat's name -- was my favorite pet and playmate. I alone fed him, and he attended me wherever I went about the house. It was even with difficulty that I could prevent him from following me through the streets.

Excerpt from The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1845

我接下来要讲的故事，癫狂至极，但也平凡至极。我并不指望或乞求任何人相信。指望别人相信——我疯了吗？就连我自己也是一个字儿都不信的。但是——我没有发疯，也没在做梦，我说的一切都千真万确。明天，我就死到临头了，所以在今天，我要把一切说出来，祈望解放我的灵魂。我当前最要紧的事，就是要把这一系列发生在我家的事直白地、简洁地、不加评论地，公诸于世。这一连串因果，魇住我、折磨我，甚至毁了我。但我并不指望能说清楚。于我而言，这些事恐怖至极，但对别人来说，它们甚至都不如巴洛克的风格怪诞。此后，或许有些能人会发现我的志怪故事普普通通；而另一些冷静非常、头脑清晰，不像我一样咋呼的能人则可能会发现，我在恐惧中写下的故事，只不过是一系列有因必有果的寻常事罢了。

从小，我就因为听话和心地善良闻名。因为心肠过于柔软，小伙伴们甚至都把我当成笑话看待。对小动物，我有种特别的偏爱。父母溺爱我，让我养了各式各样的宠物。我在这些小家伙身上花费大把的时间，喂养和抚摸它们对我而言是种极乐。这个癖好随着年龄愈演愈甚——成年后，这成为了我的主要乐趣之一。对于偏爱狗、知晓它们的忠诚与灵性的人，我不必多费口舌解释个中乐趣。同人类的的锱铢必较、薄情寡义相比，兽类毫无保留、自我牺牲般的爱，简直是直击心灵。

我早早就结了婚，非常幸运，我的妻子和我意气相投。她知道我偏爱温顺的宠物，因此绝不放过中意的品种。我们养了鸟、金鱼、一条好狗、一窝兔子、一只小猴，还有一只猫。最后提到的那只猫，它尤其大，也尤其漂亮——通体纯黑，聪明得吓人。说到这只黑猫的聪明，我的妻子心里有些迷信，她总爱提起古老的传说——黑猫是披着毛皮的女巫。她只是说着玩儿——但我提起这件事儿则是因为你需要记住这句话。

普鲁托是这只黑猫的名字，它是我最偏爱的宠物和玩伴。我亲自喂养它，在家里，我走到哪儿，它跟到哪儿。就算是出门上街，我也很难甩掉它。

节选自《黑猫》，作者埃德加·爱伦·坡，1845年出版